Driving disc for toothed yarn controller ring

ABSTRACT

An inexpensive simply constructed disc member is provided to drive the toothed yarn controller ring of a circular hosiery knitting machine in place of the conventionally used bit-carrying dial member, when the knitting operation does not require the use of bits, the disc member being adapted to couple directly to the yarn controller ring and being formed without bit-carrying grooves.

United States Patent 1 Haas [ DRIVING DISC FOR TOOTHED YARN CONTROLLER RING [75] Inventor: Paul J. Haas, High Point, NC.

[73] Assignee: The Singer Company, New York,

22 Filed: Apr. 5, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 131,239

[52] US. Cl. 66/95, 66/145 [51] Int. Cl. D04b 15/02, D04b 15/61 [58] Field of Search 66/140 S, 140 R,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,785,552 3/1957 Larkin 66/95 X 2,970,460 2/1961 Mahler et al..... 66/140 R 3,224,230 12/1965 Dusik et al. 66/145 S FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 977,707 12/1964 Great Britain 66/140 S 1 June 19, 1973 1,019,969 2/1966 Great Britain 66/140 R 1,057,227 2/1967 Great Britain.....

459,444 9/1968 Switzerland 66/140 R Primary Examiner-Wm. Carter Reynolds Attorney-Marshall J. Breen, Chester A. Williams, Jr. and William V. Ebs Y [57] ABSTRACT An inexpensive simply constructed disc member is pro vided to drive the toothed yarn controller ring of a circular hosiery knitting machine in place of the conventionally used bit-carrying dial member, when the knitting operation does not require the use of bits, the disc member being adapted to couple directly to the yarn controller ring and being formed without bit-carrying grooves.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures I? Q 6 U 2 m M1 91m INVENTOR.

PRIOR ART PRIOR ART IWITNESS= ATTORNEY DRIVING DISC FOR TOOTI-IED YARN CONTROLLER RING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to circular hosiery knitting machines and especially to dial assemblies therefor.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is common practice to provide a circular hosiery knitting machine with a toothed yarn controller ring as shown and described for example in US. Pat. No. 2,970,460, and to mount such ring on the dial of the machine for rotation by the dial such that the ring may exercise control of the knitting yarns, particularly during press off and yarn changes. When knitting articles without a turned welt such as panty-hose there is no need for the dial bits and it has been the practice to keep the bits out of action and utilize the dial merely as a driving member for the toothed yarn controller ring. It is however uneconomical to retain the dial in the machine when not required for make up and transfer but merely to drive the toothed yarn controller ring since the dial is an expensive metal part, being specially grooved and provided with walls to hold the bits, and it is subject to damage during operation of the machine. One of the most common causes of damage is yarn getting caught and accumulating in the dial assembly, which includes the dial, toothed ring yarn controller, dial cap and driving shaft for the dial, in such a manner as to exert a torque resisting motion of the ring and resulting in damage to walls of the dial by mounting pins on the ring.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, an inexpensive, simply constructed driving disc is provided for use in place of the conventional bit-carrying dial of a circular hosiery knitting machine when dial bits are not required. Such disc is adapted to couple to a drive shaft and to the toothed yarn controller ring, the disc preferably being provided for these purposes with an integral coupling pin near its center engageable with the drive shaft, and notches at the peripheral margin engageable with mounting pins on the toothed yarn controller ring. Except for the said coupling pin and notches, the disc is formed with smooth surfaces in place of the grooved surfaces which are provided in the conventional dials to recieve dial bits, and because of its simple form may be conveniently and inexpensively formed as a molded plastic part.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional dial assembly of a circular hosiery knitting machine;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a driving disc according to the invention substituted in the dial assembly of FIG. 1 for the conventional grooved bit-carrying dial.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through the dial assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through the dial assembly of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings showing a conventional dial assembly for a circular hosiery knitting machine, reference character 10 designates a dial and reference character 12, a toothed yarn controller ring. The dial 10 includes wall members 14 and 16 defining radial grooves 18 and 20, and the ring 12 includes mounting pins 22 which register in the grooves 20. In addition to the dial 10 and ring 12, the assembly includes a dial cap 24, which is provided with a central opening 26 to accommodate a drive shaft 28. The drive shaft 28 attaches to the dial 10 with a screw 30 and a pin 32 which registers in opening 34 on a flange 36 formed on the shaft. The shaft 28 drives the dial relative to the dial cap which is normally fixed against rotation in .a hosiery knitting machine and the dial drives the toothed yarn controller ring 12 through the pins 22 to rotate such ring relative to the dial cap. Transfer bits mounted in the grooves of the dial are radially reciprocated under the action of bit cams which are mounted in the stationary dial cap and brought into action during the knitting of articles with a turned welt. Neither the transfer bits nor bit cams are shown in the drawings since they constitute no part of the present invention which is directed to a driving disc for the toothed yarn controller suited for use in a circular hosiery knitting machine when neither transfer bits nor bit cams are required for the type of knitting to be performed on the machine.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 2 and 4 of the drawings showing a driving disc 38 according to the invention substituted in the conventional dial assembly already described. As shown, the general outline of the driving disc is similar to that of the conventional dial of FIG. 1, however the driving disc is without dial grooves and has smooth surfaces except for pin 32 and spaced notches 40 at the peripheral margin. The disc 38 connects with drive shaft 28 in the manner described for the dial 20, that is, by means of screw 30 and the pin 32 which registers in hole 34. The notches 40 in disc 38 receive toothed yarn controller ring pins 22 and whenever the disc is rotated it drives the ring through such pins.

Because the disc 38 presents a smooth surface at its periphery it isnt possible in a dial assembly wherein the disc 38 is substituted for dial 10 for yarn to enter the dial assembly at the periphery and so render it necessary to temporarily shut down the machine thereby interrupting knitting operations. This is in contrast to the conventional dial assembly wherein there exists the possibility of yarn being pulled into the dial assembly by bits operating in the dial grooves 20 extending to the outer peripheral surface of the dial (see FIGS. 1 and 2). Because of the simple construction of the driving disc 38 it can be and in the interest of economy preferably is made as a molded plastic part.

While the invention has been described in its preferred form, it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than of limitation, and that changes within the purview of the appended claims may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of this invention, what is claimed hereinis:

1. For use in a circular hosiery knitting machine, a toothed yarn controller ring, a dial with radial bit carrying grooves, and a disc member without radial bit carrying grooves inter changeable in the machine with the dial, both the dial and disc member being adapted to the disc member includes a plurality of notches and the pins of the ring register in the notches of the disc to provide the driving connection between the disc and ring.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the disc member is a one piece molded plastic part.

i i II III 

1. For use in a circular hosiery knitting machine, a toothed yarn controller ring, a dial with radial bit carrying grooves, and a disc member without radial bit carrying grooves inter changeable in the machine with the dial, both the dial and disc member being adapted to engage the underside of the toothed yarn controller ring and drive said toothed yarn controller ring, the disc member having an exposed periphery which is at least substantially unbroken such that yarn is prevented from entering the ring and disc assembly.
 2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the toothed yarn controller ring includes a plurality of pins, the disc member includes a plurality of notches and the pins of the ring register in the notches of the disc to provide the driving connection between the disc and ring.
 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the disc member is a one piece molded plastic part. 